This invention relates to wind and other fluid driven turbine assemblies for powering electric generators or the like.
The kinetic energy of air manifested by winds, as a cheap and inexhaustible source of power, has been the subject of renewed interest because of the depletion of fossil fuels. While the harnessing of wind energy by windmills or wind turbines is an old and highly developed art, relatively recent technological advances in related arts have brought about further attempts to improve the operational efficiency of windmill turbines. Thus, the adaptation of aerodynamic principles are proposed for wind driven turbines of the type having a ducted intake flow of air directed against rotor mounted blades or vanes. While the use of ducts to direct airflow is advantageous in reducing losses due to turbulence, this is offset by increased frictional losses as well as structural problems with respect to blade and duct design.
It is therefore an important object of the present invention to provide a wind driven turbine of the ducted type having a net increase in operational efficiency as compared to non-ducted types of wind turbines. An additional object is to provide a ducted type of wind driven turbine capable of being constructed and assembled in an economical fashion.